On January 4, 1970, Canadian health and wellness minister John Munroe officially announced Canada was
withdrawing from all international hockey competitions, in response to the International Ice Hockey
Federation’s opposition to allowing professional players to take part. The decision cost Canada the
opportunity to host the IIHF World Championship for the first time – it had been scheduled to welcome the
hockey world in 1970 – as well as take part in seven world championships and two Olympic Games. Canada would
to return to the world stage in 1977, when the IIHF and the sporting world were ready to adopt modern
eligibility rules that didn’t make any distinction between amateurs and professionals. In Sapporo, the Soviet
Union claimed its third-consecutive Olympic gold medal, posting a 4-0-1 record and outscoring its opposition
33-13, while the United States earned its first Olympic medal in 16 years, taking home the silver.